2ND WEDNESDAY HOMILY OF THE ORDINARY TIME — YEAR A
HOMILY THEME: JESUS FIGHTS FOR US
BY: Fr Karabari Paul
Heb 7:1-3, 15-17; Psalm 109(110):1-4; Mark 3:1-6
“And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.”
Yesterday, on the Sabbath, Jesus and His disciples broke the religious laws by taking some grain from a field and eating it. The Pharisees considered this work and was unlawful. When confronted, Jesus challenged them with the Scripture and won the argument. That made the Pharisees more mad.
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In the Gospel of today (Mark 3:1-6), on this Sabbath, they were ready to trap Jesus. Jesus noticed a man with withered hand. There are some who believe that this man was placed there by the Pharisees. They wanted to draw Jesus into doing a miracle so that He would break their religious laws and they could take action against Him.
Then Jesus said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” Jesus was going to bless this man with a miracle. The man didn’t ask for a miracle or healing, but Jesus decided to do what only God could do. Grace gives us what we never even asked for. To make sure the Pharisees and all the others who were present could see it, Jesus asked the man to “Come here.” Jesus was not going to back down because of the threat and staring hatred gazes of the Pharisees.
Sometimes, God wants our deformities, our brokenness, our weaknesses, and our sins to be seen by others. Once we see them and God heals them, we get a glimpse into His power and authority and grace. Was it embarrassing for this man to stand in front of everyone? Probably, yes. However, that embarrassment would soon be forgotten when Jesus heals the man’s hand.
God’s Sabbath law prohibited people from doing their regular work so they could rest and be refreshed from their labours. But it was never meant by God as a day to allow people to suffer and remain under the burden of need when that need could be met (Isaiah 58:6-7). The Pharisees would have left this poor man in the bondage of need out of a distorted devotion to their own concept of the letter of the law. They would have used the law of God in such a way as to inflict cruelty upon people, not blessings.
Whenever we gather together in God’s presence, we bring our own deformities with us. Our emotional deformities, mental deformities, physical deformities, and spiritual deformities. Some of them we were born with, some of them are caused by others, and some of them we did to ourselves. But we are all deformed or withered in some way. Jesus knows this and notices. There is a lesson here with Jesus “noticing a man with a withered hand.” Whatever makes our hands to be withered makes us helpless. It deprives us of our means of livelihood. But Jesus won’t allow that to continue.
Jesus went to the synagogue that day, knowing His enemies were waiting for Him. That took courage. Jesus confronted the Pharisees on behalf of the man with withered hand. Jesus knew that His actions that day would be costly and that took courage. If the man was planted there, they succeeded in pushing him into a miracle. May all plans of the enemies intended for our evil and shame turn into favour and breakthrough. Jesus fights for you. He defends you. He is not going to back down because someone opposes Him. He is not going to give up because someone threatens His life. He is not going to give in because someone puts pressure on Him. Jesus is a fighter, a defender, a protector. He is your champion, advocate, and backs you up when no one else will. GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE. May God have mercy on us, bless us, and heal our withered hands through Christ Our Lord Amen.
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